Truck body door holder



June 25, 1957 MGFERRELL HOLLANSWORTH 2,

TRUCK BODY DOOR HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 26, 1956 INVENTOR. /7/?ma 14 01.;

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MS IQTTUEIVGI'S/S June 25, '1957' MOFERRELL HOLLANSWORTH TRUCK BODY DOORHOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNi'ENToR.

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Filed June 26, 1956 TRUCK BODY DOOR HOLDER McFerrell Hollansworth,Pittsburgh,

McKinney Manufacturing Company, corporation of Pennsylvania Pa.,assignor to Pittsburgh, Pa., a

This invention relates to hinged braces for holding doors open in aplurality of different positions.

Various mechanisms have been provided for limiting the distance that adoor can be swung open and then holding or bracing it in that positionuntil it is: desired to close the door. Generally these devices willhold the door open in only one position, and they require some elementto be manipulated manually before they will allow the door to be closed:again. This is objectionable Where the door holder is difficult toreach, such as at the top of a door in the body of a truck.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a door holder whichwill hold a door open in at least two different positions, and which isoperated entirely by the door itself when a predetermined opening orclosing pressure is applied to the door.

In accordance with this invention, an arm is pivotally connected at oneend to the inside of a truck body or the like near the closed door andpreferably at its top. The rest of the arm extends toward the edge ofthe door which is opposite to the edge that is hinged. One end of a linkis pivotally and slidably connected to the arm for movement from aninner position near the pivoted end of the arm to an outer position nearits free end. That end of the link normally is held in its innerposition by friction means. The opposite end of the link is pivotallyconnected to the door, with the link extending under the arm-pivotingmeans while the door is shut. The arm and link are adapted to be swungoutward into general alignment with each other when the door has beenopened a predetermined distance. This will hold the door open. Means areprovided for holding the link and arm in alignment when the link ispulled out to its outer position upon the door being pulled fartheropen. The link is held in this outer position by friction means.Preferably the arm is so shaped that the door can be closed by merelypushing against it hard enough to overcome the resistance of thefriction means first, whereupon the link will move back to its innerposition, and then to swing the link and arm out of alignment and inwardthrough the door opening.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view of the rear end of atruck body having doors provided with my holders;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing one of the doors opened partway;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of my door holder with thedoor closed, and showing in broken lines ditferent positions of the doorand holder as the door is opened;

Fig. 4 is a further enlarged side view of the holder with a portionbroken away;

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary side views of the holder taken on thelines V-V and VI-VI, respectively, of

dotted line positions in Fig. 3; I

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross section of the'holderv taken onthe lineVII--VII of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on the line VIII-VIIIof Fig. 7.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the rear end of a truck body1 is provided with a doorway that normally is closed by a pair of doors2 connected at their outer edges to the body by suitable hinges 3 sothat the two doors can be swung outward away from each other. Near thetop of each door there is a holder for limiting the distance the doorscan be opened, and for holding them in a plurality of different openpositions. Each holder consists of four main parts; a bracket 5 fastenedto the inside of the truck body above a door, an arm 6 having one endpivoted to the bracket, a link 7 pivoted to the arm, and a bracket 8pivoted to the opposite end of the link and secured to the door near itstop. When the doors are closed, the free end of each arm 6 extendstoward the inner or free edges of the doors, and the adjoining link 7extends from the arm outward under the body bracket 5 to the doorbracket 8. This is' the folded position of the holder indicated in Fig.l and as shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring now to Figs. 3, 4 and 7, the arm 6 is pivoted to the bottom ofthe body bracket 5 by a bolt 9, and

inward swinging of the arm is limited by its engagement with a stopshoulder 10 on the bottom of the bracket. The arm is tubular, mostsuitably in the form of a flattened tube and it preferably has a dog-legshape for a purpose that will be described later. In plan, the joint ofthe dogleg is located closer to the body bracket than to the free end ofthe arm and is bent away from the door. The bottom of the longerstraight section of the arm is provided with a slot 11 extendinglengthwise thereof a predetermined distance. Extending through this slotand slidable along it is a vertical stud 12, the upper end of which issupported in the central part of a rectangular slide 13 that also canmove lengthwise of the arm. The top of the slide, between the stud andthe opposite ends of the slide, is provided with a pair of depressions14- and is, beyond which the ends of the slide are inclined. The slidecan travel between an inner position in the arm near body bracket 5 andan outer position near the free end of the arm, the stud 12 engaging theend of the slot in both positions. In its inner position, the innerdepressions of the slide receives a detent 17 slidably mounted in a holein the top of the arm and pressed downward by a coil spring 18 compressed between the detent and the top of a small housing 19 secured tothe top of the arm. Near the opposite end of the arm there is anotherspring-pressed detent 21 mounted in a housing 22 in the same way forprojecting into the depression 15 near the outer end of the slide whenthe slide is moved to its outer position. By providing two depressionsin the slide, it is unnecessary for the central stud to pass undereither detent.

One end of link 7 is pivotally connected to the slide stud, and theother end of the link is pivotaliy connected to the door bracket 8 by abolt 24. The link is a telescoping member because, with the arrangementshown in Fig. 3, it will be seen that as the door is opened, the doorbracket moves closer to slide 13 for a certain distance, so the linkmust be shortened. However, for some hinge arrangements the bracket willnot move closer to the slide and in such cases it is not necessary thatthe link telescope. The telescoping link is formed by slidably mountinga rod 25 in one end of a tube 26. Inside the tube there is a coil spring27 that is compressed between the end of the rod and the opposite endportion of the tube. This tends to push the rod out of the tube, butseparation is prevented by :a lug 28 bent up from the bottom of the tubeinto a longitudinal slot 29 in the bottom of the rod. When the doorstarts to open, the

rod is pushed into the tube to shorten the link, as indi-- 3 cated inFig. 3 but the rest of the time the spring holds the link fullyextended.

As the door is opened, the door bracket first swings the adjoining endof the telescoping link out through the door opening, but the armremains inside the truck body pressed against shoulder on the doorbracket. As soon as the door has opened far enough to permit the link tobe fully extended, the link will start to pull on the arm and swing itout through the door opening as shown in Fig. 2. This continues untilthe door is opened 90, as shown in Fig. 3, at which time the arm andlink will be substantially in alignment although, of course, the link isbelow the arm. The slide is still held in its inner position by theinner detent 17, as shown in Fig. 5. As the free end of the arm wasswung outward and then toward the link, a stop 31 at its outer endstruck the side of the link tube 26. This stop can be formed by bendingdown a short section of the bottom of the arm, as shown in Fig. 7. Asthe stop approaches the link and engages it, a clamping spring 32 thatalso is mounted on the free end of the arm is brought into engagementwith and grips the link to insure the link and arm remaining inalignment. As shown in Fig. 7, the spring is a bent strip of metal thatis clamped around the arm and that extends down the outside of the stopand then inward toward the opposite side of the arm. The horizontallower portion of the spring is provided with a concavity that receivesthe link and holds it until sufiicient force is applied to the arm toslide the spring away from the link.

With the parts in the positions just described, the door is held open90. To close the door from this position, the free end of the arm 6could be pulled laterally away from the link by hand in order to movethe arm and link out of alignment with each other. However, where thearm has a dog-leg shape as described above, all that it is necessary todo is to apply enough closing pressure to the door to cause slide stud12 to press against the inner end of the arm slot 11 hard enough toovercome the frictional engagement of clamping spring 32 with the link,so that the free end of the arm can swing back through the door openingand into the truck body. Pressure of the slide stud against the innerend of the arm slot will produce this action because the bend in the armcauses the pressure of the stud to exert itself along a line that passessome distance to the right of the pivotal connection between the arm andthe body bracket as viewed in Fig. 3. This off-center force will swingthe free end of the arm to the right and away from the link.

If, on the other hand, it is desired to open the door farther from its90 open position, all that has to be done is to exert sufiicient openingforce on the door to overcome the frictional resistance between theslide and the inner detent engaging it, so that the door and link canpull the slide toward the free end of-the arm until the outer detent 21snaps into the outer depression in the slide. The slide then will beheld in this outer position and, since the length of the holder or bracenow has been increased, the door will be held farther open, such as atan angle of 120 for example.

As an extra precaution against the arm and link being swung out ofalignment while the slide is not in the inner position, a rib 33 isprovided along the top of the link tube 26 for sliding along one side ofa lug 34 bent down from the bottom of the outer end of the arm above thecenter of the link. As shown in Fig. 7, the rib preferably is formed bybending up a strip of the link tube at the side of the lug next to stop31. When slide 13 is in its inner position at the 90 door-open positionshown in Figs. 5 and 8, the lug is slightly beyond the outer end of therib, so the rib does not interfere with the free end of the arm swinginginto and out of alignment with the link at that'time. However, as soonas the door is swung farther open, rib 33 is pulled outward between lug34 and stop 31 and thereby positively prevents the arm from swingingback away from the link.

To close the door from its farthest open position, sufficient closingpressure is applied to it to overcome the frictional resistance betweenthe outer detent 21 and the slide. The link then will push the slideback through the arm to its inner position and the rib will be movedaway from the lug. Continued pressure applied to the door will causeclamping spring 32 to release the link and the free end of the arm toswing away from the link as explained above. The link and arm will bothswing back through the door opening into folded position as the door isshut. As far as this invention is concerned, it is immaterial whetherthe link is above or below the arm; either position being considered theequivalent of the other.

Consequently, with this invention the door can be opened to differentpositions by merely pulling on it, it will be held open in the desiredposition against normal forces tending to close it, and it can be shutby merely pushing on it hard enough to overcome the frictionalresistance of the springs.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated anddescribed.

I claim:

1. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising an arm, means for pivotally connecting oneend of the arm to the inside of the truck body near the closed door withthe rest of the arm extending toward the free edge of the door, a linkhaving one end pivotally and slidably connected to the arm for movementfrom an inner position near the pivoted end of the arm to an outerposition near its free end, friction means normally holding said end ofthe link in its inner position, means for pivotally connecting theopposite end of the link to the door with the link extending under saidarm-pivoting means while the door is shut, the arm and link beingadapted to be swung outward into general alignment with each other whenthe door has been opened a predetermined distance, means holding thelink and arm in alignment when the link is pulled out to said outerposition when the door is pulled farther open, and friction means forholding the link in said outer position.

2. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising an arm, means for pivotally connecting oneend of the arm to the inside of the truck body near the closed door withthe rest of the arm extending toward the free edge of the door, a linkhaving one end pivotally and slidably connected to the arm for movementfrom an inner position near the pivoted end of the arm to an outerposition near its free end, friction means normally holding said end ofthe link in its inner position, means for pivotally connecting theopposite end of the link to the door with the link extending under saidarm-pivoting means while the door is shut, a stop carried by the freeend of the arm for engaging one side of the link when the door has beenopened far enough to swing the arm and link into general alignment,means holding the link and arm in alignment while the lnik is pulled outto said outer position as the door is pulled farther open, and frictionmeans for holding the link in said outer position.

3. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising an arm, means for pivotally connecting oneend of the arm to the inside of the truck body near the closed door withthe rest of the arm extending toward the free edge of the door, a linkhaving one end pivotally and slidably connected to the arm for movementfrom an inner position near the pivoted end of the arm to an outerposition near its free end, friction means normally holding said end ofthe link in its inner position, means for pivotally connecting theopposite end of the link to the door with the link extending under saidarm-pivoting means while the door is shut, the arm and link beingadapted to be swung outward .into general alignment with each other whenthe door has been opened a predetermined distance, a rib extending alongthe link and projecting toward the plane of movement of the arm, a lugprojecting from the free end of the arm in position to move across theouter end of said lib when the link and arm are swung into saidalignment, whereby when the link is pulled out to said outer position asthe door is pulled farther open the rib will move along the side of thelug and prevent the link and arm from swinging back out of saidalignment, and friction means for holding the link in said outerposition.

4. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising an arm, means for pivotally connecting oneend of the arm to the inside of the truck body near the closed door withthe rest of the arm extending toward the free edge of the door, a slidecarried by the arm for movement from an inner position near the pivotedend of the arm to an outer position near its free end, friction meansnormally holding the slide in its inner position, a link having an endpivotally connected with the slide, means for pivotally connecting theopposite end of the link to the door with the link extending under saidarm-pivoting means while the door is shut, the arm and link beingadapted to be swung outward into general alignment with each other whenthe door has been opened a predetermined distance, means holding thelink and arm in alignment while the slide is pulled out to said outerposition as the door is pulled farther open, and friction means forholding the slide in said outer position.

5. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising a tubular arm, means for pivotallyconnecting one end of the arm to the inside of the truck body near theclosed door with the rest of the arm extending toward the free edge ofthe door, the arm being provided with a longitudinally extending slot, aslide inside the arm movable from an inner position near the pivoted endof the arm to an outer position near its free end, a spring-presseddetent in the arm normally holiding the slide in its inner position, alink, means extending through said arm slot pivotally connecting one endof the link with the slide, means for pivotally connecting the oppositeend of the link to the door with the link extending under saidarm-pivoting means while the door is shut, the arm and link beingadapted to be swung outward into general alignment with each other whenthe door has been opened a predetermined distance, means holding thelink and arm in alignment while the slide is pulled out to said outerposition as the door is pulled farther open, and friction means forholding the slide in said outer position.

6. A holder for a truck door that is hinged near one edge to a truckbody, said holder comprising an arm, means for pivotally connecting oneend of the arm to the inside of the truck body near the closed door withthe rest of the arm extending toward the free edge of the door, atelescoping link formed from slidably connected inner and outer membersurged apart axially by a coil spring inside the outer member, meanspivotally and slidably connecting the end of said outer member farthestfrom the inner member to the arm for movement from an inner positionnear the pivoted end of the arm to an outer position near its free end,friction means normally holding said end of the outer member in itsinner'position, means for pivotally connecting the opposite end of thelink to the door with the link extending under said arm-pivoting meanswhile the door is shut, the arm and link being adapted to be swungoutward into general alignment with each other when the door has beenopened a predetermined distance, means holding the link and arm inalignment when the link is pulled out to said outer position when thedoor is pulled farther open, and friction means for holding the link insaid outer position.

7. A door holder according to claim 1, in which said arm is dog-legshape and bent away from the door.

8. A door holder according to claim 1, including a spring mounted on thefree end of the arm and receiving and gripping said link when the armand link are swung into said general alignment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,265,520 Rixson May 7, 1918 1,357,714 Lane Nov. 2, 1920 1,574,340Fauser Feb. 23, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 284,960 Germany June 11, 1915

